Mario Super Sluggers AU Hands-on

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Nintendo comes out swinging with its latest all-star effort.

By IGN AU Staff

The Japanese version of Mario Super Sluggers went on sale last week, and we picked up a copy to hit it for six-- ...rather, a homerun. Of course it's not cricket, but with an exhaustive cast of Nintendo characters and familiar settings, we've been pleasantly surprised by how consistently entertaining this game is. Here's how Super Sluggers works, then.

There are three control systems to play with: you can use the Wii Remote on its own, waving it to perform every baseball function; you can alternatively plug in the Nunchuk for added control options such as being able to tap buttons to run quickly from base to base (if you're just using the Remote, you need to shake the thing to sprint); and finally, least attractively, you can hold the Remote like a NES pad and play in a purely digital style, pretending that Nintendo's revolution never happened.

If you use the Remote as a standalone controller, which is our preferred method of playing Mario Super Sluggers, it's impressive how versatile the setup becomes. To bat, you pull the Remote back to charge up a hit and then swing it at the optimal moment to meet the ball and send those fielders scurrying. There's a cursor to indicate where the bowler is planning to send the ball, but this isn't an entirely trustworthy sign as the bowler can apply spin or curve to send the ball wide of the mark. You need to keep your eyes on the ball, which is obviously a principle based in reality.

Less real but definitely fantastic are the 'special shots' that can be hit when a 'star gauge' is charged by successive incidences of 'good play'. Once you've got enough charge, holding A and B together while swinging the bat will unleash a character-specific mega-crazy-super-gimmick-shot (um, our wording) preceded by a brief cutscene segued-in smoothly mid-play. In Wario's case, this means he'll turn the ball into a bomb, which he then lobs into the outfield and dares any fielder to catch – inevitably they won't go near it for fear of being blown up and, worse, ridiculed by Wario. With Donkey Kong (who, incidentally, has only a giant red boxing glove, worn palm-open; no bat) the 'super-shot' arrives in the shape of a barrel, which DK rolls out and which crashes through the first fielder stupid enough to attempt a catch. It's daft stuff, but the cutscenes – and particularly how they begin and end loading-time-free, seamlessly woven into the action – are excellent, and the benefits of hitting a 'special shot' can be crucial to the outcome of a match.

Once you've sent the ball on a journey, it's time to run from base to base. When using the Remote alone, the batters' running actions are semi-automatic, but you can trigger a quick sprint by shaking the Remote from side to side. The basic speed at which characters run varies radically: Mario legs it at a decent pace, for example, but Bowser apparently struggles to even break sweat, perhaps because of some metabolic problem or as a consequence of kidnapping too many princesses…

On the bowler's side of things (Sorry, should that be "pitcher"?), the speed at which you move the Remote determines how quickly the ball flies through the air. There's room for improvisation, too. A quick snap of the wrist as you fling the Remote is sufficient to apply curve or spin, which proves to be an endlessly useful trick, especially in multiplayer when the opposition is of a decent standard (the default CPU level seems to have been configured for the benefit of very young/inept players). There are also 'special balls' to be bowled (or pitched), which adhere to the same principles as the game's 'special shots', so there's no sense of unfairness and neither is there any obvious advantage in favour of the bowler (pitcher) or batter.

All the joy of baseball without the beer, hotdogs and fat guys not wearing shirts who drink beer and eat hotdogs!

On the whole, the balance of play is fine. The computer-controlled characters aren't very sharp, but most of the time you'll inevitably be going in for multiplayer matches anyway, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. The multiplayer options sadly don't extend to online competition, but you can play local multiplayer games one-on-one or two-on-two. Miis are also supported, so you can line up a team entirely filled by members of the Mii entourage who live inside your Wii. Alternatively, you can select from dozens of Nintendo characters – not just the famous ones like Mazza, DK and Yoshi, but also the little people: one of the Hammer Brothers is here, as are numerous Goombas and Toad relatives – to form either a 100% Nintendo roster or a mixed Mii-Nintendo-character team.

Super Sluggers nudges even closer to Smash Bros. territory by enabling its comprehensive cast of Nintendo characters to play ball in ten Ninty-themed stadiums, each featuring an appropriate selection of Nintendo music that plays quietly in the background. The best location we've seen so far is Peach Rink, where the icy surface increases the unpredictability factor while the theme tune from Peach's castle in Super Mario 64 contributes as a scene-setter. There are also stadiums such as DK Jungle, Luigi's Mansion, Yoshi Park, Bowser's Castle and Wario City, so Nintendo fans will be right at home.

In terms of game modes outside of Exhibition, which is where 'friendly' matches are played, there's a Mini-game mode that serves a variety of batting and bowling challenges for up to four players. The mini-games here are fairly simple – hit the barrels and bombs before they reach your batter; things like that – but they're a good laugh. Super Sluggers' Story mode offers more depth, as you have to take a team of Nintendo characters on an adventure through Baseball Island, competing in various challenges with the goal of overthrowing the nasty Bowser Team. The final piece of the puzzle is something called the Toy Field mode, which transforms a stadium into a kind of game board; various amounts of coins can be collected, with reward levels depending on the space where your ball lands. The player who collects the most coins wins.

Namco Bandai has clearly done a great job of re-imagining the Nintendo world as this place called Baseball Island. It looks as good as any first-party Wii effort so far, moving at 60 frames-per-second, and it's easy to pick up and play. Bring on the Aussie version, Nintendo.